


Just a Stand's Shadow

by verificationprocess



Category: Persona Series, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Eventual Romance, Fantasy, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Vento Aureo, Magic, No Sex, No Smut, Other, Persona 5 Spoilers, Plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verificationprocess/pseuds/verificationprocess
Summary: Akira Kurusu meets up with the Phantom Thieves after half a decade. However, one last journey still awaits them. Meanwhile, the Jojo universe welcomes it's first Persona users.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. In the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I have always likened the Stand and Persona mechanics. I thought it would be fun to explore how they would work together. :)

Akira was tired. He stuffed a cardboard box full of clothing and taped it shut, just like how he had been doing for the past few hours. The room around him was mostly barren, save for a few boxes. Akira sighed. But his plaintive expression soon turned into one of excitement. He smiled with anticipation.

He had just graduated college, and in a few days would be leaving his hometown for Tokyo. As he thought about reuniting with friends from half a decade ago, he couldn’t help but smile. 

Akira flopped on the last couch remaining in his original home. His body was fit and strong, but not used to manual labor. Lying down, he took a look around.

“Man I’m going to miss this place.” Akira said with a sigh.

Akira graduated from a local university, and held a degree in criminal law. He wondered often why he chose to pursue law as a job. Perhaps it was due to certain past experiences that shaped his empathy towards the unjust. 

In this day and age, just having a degree was not enough. Fresh graduates from non-prominent universities like him found it tough to get employed. Fortunately, he had a contact in the law scene who had ‘helped’ get him a spot at the Tokyo public prosecutor’s office. Sae Nijima had garnered massive respect and adoration since the Shido case, and that was on top of being an already established prosecutor. Securing a position for an old friend was done in just one phone call. 

Thus, he would be travelling to Tokyo come April, and this time for much longer than a year. 

‘When I first went to Shujin, it was also around this time. Time sure flies.’ Akira thought.

“HEY! WHERE'S DINNER!” A familiar loud voice rang through the room. A small black cat pranced gracefully over to Akira, beaming in anticipation.

“Yep, I know.” Akira smoothly took out a packet of cat food and poured some into a bowl. 

Most people would be surprised at a talking cat, but to Akira, Morgana was an irreplaceable friend, someone who stands as a testament to his journey five years ago. 

Morgana chose to stay with Akira after the events of Tokyo, to ‘keep him in line’, and has been with him ever since. Needless to say, he would be coming along to Tokyo, and is just as excited to meet the rest of the Phantoms. 

“You know, Joker… Are you really sure about this?” Morgana asked while chewing.

“I don’t mind leaving my hometown. I have no regrets.” Akira guessed.

“I'm going to bed, I have to save energy for the next few days.” Akira yawned and headed up. 

Morgana was pleasantly surprised. This was one of the rare times Joker went to bed before Morgana told him to. 

“Well, I guess I should be finishing up soon too.” Morgana took his bowl up to a sink and began washing the dishes. 

-

“Delivery!” Timed extremely well, Akira’s belongings arrived just a few hours after he settled into his new home.  
“Well, it's unpacking time…” Morgana jumped the boxes and started clawing through the tape. 

Just then, Akira’s phone rang. 

“Akira!” A feminine voice called out to him. “Have you arrived in Tokyo yet? Check the group chat, dinner tonight is on us, remember?” 

Hearing the voice of Ann Takamaki really took him back, and he couldn’t help but smile. 

“Of course.”

Akira started taking his essentials. It was nearly time.

The Phantoms wasted no time in celebrating the return of their leader. Akira was forced into a welcome dinner at Sojiro’s place the very night he arrived.

Fortunately, his new place was close by, and he knew the area around Sojiro’s very well.

He smiled as he went off, scooping Morgana up.

“WELCOME BACK!” As he opened the door to the familiar scene, he was greeted warmly by many familiar faces.

“Sup.” Sojiro nodded. The lean, classy man was Standing behind the counter, cleaning coffee cups. It was as if he never left.

However, he could not take in the nostalgic cafe interior for much longer. Akira was immediately tackled by a flurry of hands. 

“It's been a while, guys.” Joker beamed.

“Hey! Don’t be forgetting about me!” Morgana poked his head out from Akira’s shirt pocket.

“Awwww, we would never!” Futaba picked Morgana up and spun him around.

“That’s dangerous Futaba, you’ll send Morgana flying.” Makoto chided her.

“Man it’s fine even if Morgana flies, they’re back!” Ryuji had been excited about this for a month, and did not stop talking about it for two weeks. Finally the day came, and Ryuji could not be happier.

Life was good.

Ryuji did not go to college, and after graduating from Shujin, actually pursued filmmaking as a career. He said he had a wonderful story idea to produce.

Ann continued her modelling work, and actually became rather famous. She recently clinched an acting role in a popular drama, and is well on her career. She came today wearing a trench coat, a mask, and sunglasses, something her daily outfit had eventually degraded to. 

Yusuke, needless to say, became a full time artist. However, despite receiving numerous awards and accolades, he still lived a rather humble life. Or rather, he was terrible with money.

Influenced by her sister, Makoto studied criminal law in college. She graduated top of her class from Tokyo’s most prestigious university. She’s currently setting her sights on starting her own detective agency. 

Futaba had overcome her fears and anxieties, but apparently not her NEET tendencies. She still lives with Sojiro, and works mainly from home. Nobody really knows just what she does for a living. Most people just figured that Futaba’s brain would be able to rake in big bucks. 

Haru chose not to go to college, and instead started running her father’s business. Indeed the daughter of a former MNC leader, her business sense was frightening, and she quickly grew the Okumura name back to its former glory. 

And Akira, after studying in college, had returned to all his friends in Tokyo. 

Things were peaceful, happy, and smooth.

However, that would not be for long. It would not be much of a story if it were, would it?

“Wha-!” Akira exclaimed.

A pitch black hole appeared underneath them. 

Suddenly, the world seemed to pause. Everything around the eight of them, the cafe, even Sojiro, was swept away, leaving pitch black darkness.

It felt like something heavy was pressing on Akira. It compressed him further and further until it seemed like his very body broke apart. 

-

When Akira came to, his head was ringing. 

“Was the sky always this saturated?” Akira pondered. It was like a fauvist painting, with a saturated render.

Akira turned to look around. His friends were all lying on the floor in the same outfits. 

However, there was one difference. Morgana was in a form he had not seen for a long time. It was the form he assumed back in the Metaverse.

“Oh no… does this mean the shadow world is back?” Akira groaned. 

Half a decade ago, the Metaverse was destroyed by this very group. The memories they shared would never be broken. 

So, were the Phantom Thieves back?

The awakening of his friends interrupted his chain of thought. 

“Where are we?” Ann muttered. 

They appeared to be in a forested area uphill. Not far off was a small countryside village that looked Japanese. 

“We should still be in Japan at least.” Makoto, the only level headed one, rationalised. 

“Morgana?” Haru noticed his form, which Morgana himself had not. 

A collective gasp went up.

“So that means… “Ryuji stood up.

“Seiten Taisei”. As he spoke a name that was last said five years ago, a familiar cloud gathered. Yellow streaks of light burst forth, and formed into a body, a cape and a long staff. And in its full glory, above the cloud, stood Ryuji’s Persona, Seiten Taisei.

Akira could not believe his eyes. The Metaverse was supposed to be destroyed. How could they still access the shadow world?

“Wait. I don’t think this is the shadow world.” Morgana said, “It just doesn’t feel like it”. 

“Well, to find our way back, let’s gather some information first.” Makoto pointed at the small village.

“How about trying our luck there. We need food and shelter as well.” 

Unlike normal palaces, shadows were not everywhere, so safety was not a concern. However, unlike normal palaces, they couldn’t go back anytime they wanted either. 

So they headed down towards the village.

“At least this place seems like Japan.” Yusuke muttered, noticing familiar modern day sights and written characters. However, the area was sparsely populated, and they couldn’t find a single hotel or inn.

“Let’s try asking around.” Ryuji walked up to the front of a convenience stall, where he noticed a group of three guys were squatting. 

One of them was incredibly short, and looked friendly and cute.

Another had a cross shaped scar on his face, and was rather menacing.

And the last one had a ridiculous blue pompadour on his head.

“Hey guys-!” Ryuji went over to them, asking for directions.

However, he made a mistake. A very small mistake, that anyone would make. 

“Thanks, guy with the weird hair!”

As Ryuji walked over to the rest, Akira felt a menacing aura from behind Ryuji.

His honed battle instincts kicked in.

“Persona!”

Sure enough, a pink arm extended seemingly out of nowhere, and went flying towards Ryuji. It was stopped in the nick of time by the two powerful blades of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. 

For a moment, it looked like the blades had cracked, but Akira must have just imagined it, because it was back to normal when he looked again. He had never seen anything break this guy’s swords.

By now everyone’s attention was on the fight, and the guy with the weird hair screamed.

“Did you just insult my hair??!” 

The mysterious pink arms then charged in with a barrage of punches, but this time, Ryuji was ready, and activated his Persona, deflecting them all with his staff. Seiten Taisei had not lost one bit of power.

“We’re terribly sorry for our friend-“ The short and scarred guy came running over, apologising, but stopped when they saw the Personas. 

“You guys are Stand users too?” The short guy asked.

“Why are your Stand’s art style so different?” The scar faced guy muttered. 

“We have no clue what you’re talking about - now apologise!” Ann demanded.

To the Phantom Thieves who did not know better, they were in no wrong. And they were extremely defiant towards injustice. 

“Oi Josuke, let this go for once?” The scar faced guy tried to coax his friend. 

However, “These guys are Stand users, perhaps even a group of one. We can’t just let them go off without questioning them.” Josuke was now less angry and more serious.

“We really have no idea what a Stand is, or what you’re talking about, okay?” Futaba reasoned. “However, we can and will fight to protect ourselves if need be.” 

“I don’t know, an organised group of eight Stand users who don’t know what a Stand is sounds quite suspicious to me.” The scar faced guy narrowed his eyes. He changed expressions when the words ‘Stand user’ were said. 

Perhaps a traumatic experience?, Akira wondered. He had learnt about PTSD from his time with Tae (best girl). 

If it seemed like a fight was imminent, the Phantoms would not back down. 

Akira was a bit worried about the disappearance of Igor, now that another shadow world has appeared. His power was largely owed to the master of the velvet room. However, the guy had disappeared one day, saying something about having to work on Persona 6.

Well, no matter. Akira had already gotten the strongest Persona. 

And as a sign that he was taking the three seriously, he called out Satanael. 

“Let’s start things off small. Riot Gun.” Akira summoned his Persona. 

“Two Stands? That’s impossible!” Josuke got freaked out.

Before they had time to react, Satanael filled the entire area with bullets. As the town was basically deserted, the only collateral was the walls behind.

However, all the bullets disappeared, and all three enemies were Standing unscathed. 

“[ The Hand ]. This is my, Nijimura Okuyasu’s, ability.” The scar faced guy shouted with a smile.

A blue-white striped humanoid appeared behind Okuyasu. On it’s right hand was two domes with contoured lines running across it. Whenever it touched a bullet, the bullet would disappear.

“[ Echoes ] Act Three! Three Freeze!” A green humanoid appeared behind the short guy, and instantly all eight of the Phantoms were stuck on the ground.

“It's like there's a fifty kilo weight on me…” Makoto desperately tried to lift herself up. 

Josuke walked over to Ryuji. Apparently he still held a grudge. 

“Maziodyne.” Ryuji was not going down without a fight.

Before Josuke could attack, the three of them teleported away, right before lighting crashed where they used to Stand.

“Elemental Stands? I’ve never seen one.” The short guy said.

“Koichi, can you keep them under your Three Freeze?” Josuke asked.

They were out of range, so he couldn’t. Koichi really did not want to fight, but would do anything to protect his friends. He truly is a reliable guy.  
The phantoms started to recover off the ground. 

Even so, just who were these people? Akira had never seen teleportation, gravity, and destructive skills. 

“That Okuyasu guy seems to be able to destroy things with his right hand. It seems to be quite potent, and has no cooldown. Be careful of that.” Futaba began analysis on their enemies. 

“Haru and Morgana, take the gravity controller. Try to psyche him or reverse his gravity using Garu-skills. Joker, you can use the widest variety of skills, so handle Okuyasu. See what he can’t destroy with his hand. The rest, go after Josuke and try to make him reveal his ability. Ill provide backup on all three fronts.” Futaba’s intellect had grown over the years, and was confident in her abilities. She quickly went into her UFO. 

“Let’s lead them away from each other.” Yusuke said.

“The combination of gravity and teleportation is dangerous.” Haru agreed.

Akira sighed inwardly. He hadn’t realised how much he missed the rush of battle. 

“Alright then.” Morgana smiled. He likely thought the same. “Wind amp”. “Garudyne”. A powerful gust knocked Koichi far down the street, and would have likely knocked him out had he not called echoes out to defend himself. Haru and Morgana branched off to face Koichi.

Okuyasu immediately tried to teleport Koichi back using The Hand, but Joker wasn’t about to let him.

Akira quickly casted Heat Riser, raising all his stats. 

He rushed into Okuyasu and called out Yoshitsune, slicing through the air.

Okuyasu was forced to block. His right hand ripped through the sword, tearing the sword out and leaving only a small blade. 

Joker was mildly disturbed. He had not faced this before, and was not sure what became of Yoshitsune’s blade. 

Now armed with only one blade, Yoshitsune started slicing at Okuyasu’s Stand. 

“Hassou Tobi”.

Each strike shoved Okuyasu further down the street, and Joker was lucky to get eight strikes in before Okuyasu destroyed his other blade with his hand.

“Ngh. Let’s go.” Joker swapped to Ganesha and casted “Debilitate”. He tried rushing in and attacking physically. Since he was nimble, he dodged most of The Hand’s attacks. 

“Why… why am I moving so slow…? I feel so weak.” Okuyasu was stressed in the face of an enemy with a seemingly infinite number of Stands. 

Seeing as he was at a disadvantage, Okuyasu teleported away by scraping the air continuously, and tried to outlast the effect.

Joker knew full well what he was trying, and gave chase. And so the battle continued.

Josuke was frustrated. These guys didn’t look too tough. He was confident that he could win if he got a few punches in. 

The Thieves were relentless with their attack, as flames, lightning, ice and a blue force pressured him. Each time he had used Crazy Diamond to counterattack, it was dodged or the opponents used Tetrakarn. 

Josuke used Crazy Diamond to punch the walls and floor around him, and fixed it into a dome. As the attacks outside slowly tore it down, he fixed it continuously. 

‘The key would be timing, huh’. Josuke had noticed that the four of them had a brief recession in between attacks, almost like they were taking turns. 

“What a weird battle habit.” Josuke muttered. The plan was to launch himself out at someone and get one hit in. Once he drew a few drops of blood, he could then use his homing missiles. 

There it was. A short pause after Ann’s turn. 

Josuke kicked off using Crazy Diamond, and flew into her with a punch. It was nowhere near enough to donut her, but more than enough to draw a few drops of blood. 

“Panther!” A few screams came out, and Josuke leapt back, dodging several attacks. Bullets grazed past him, and he was attacked by the rest as Makoto knelt beside Ann. 

“Diarahan.” 

Ann stood back up, fully healthy. 

What kind of Stand has healing, defensive, and offensive abilities? Josuke was shocked. 

Well. No matter, he would just have to take them all out at once. 

“DORA!” Crazy Diamond hit the blood on Josuke, and suddenly sharp rocks were flung at all of the Thieves. 

Josuke had fixed Ann’s blood, and used it as a tracking missile. It was a trick he learnt from a past enemy. As he could control the motion of the projectile, rocks flew at all four of the Thieves. 

The surprise factor seemed to work, and all of the rocks hit their targets. It was nowhere near enough to knock them out, but more than enough to cause a distraction. 

In that instant, Josuke closed the gap and sent out Crazy Diamond.

In the Thieves’ confused state, they were no match for Crazy Diamond’s speed, that could match Jotaro’s trained and battle-hardened Stand reflexes. Josuke smashed a fist into Makoto’s side, sending her flying. 

‘That’s the healer taken care of.’ 

Being a healer himself, Josuke knew how dangerous an enemy healer can potentially be, and decided to go for Makoto first. 

Makoto would be out of the picture for a while. 

Josuke spun around and went for Ryuji in a flurry of punches. By that time, however, Seiten Tensei managed to block and countered with his staff. 

Josuke was caught off guard. He was sent flying back and had to use Crazy Diamond to punch the ground to get him to stop. 

Now Josuke was really pissed off. Things were heating up. The three remaining Thieves and the flying UFO at the back were riled up, and out of the corner of his eye Josuke saw Ann moving to heal Makoto. 

“I won’t let you!” Josuke flung himself forwards, and threw a flurry of punches. Ruyji and Yusuke sent out bolts of lightning and ice respectively. 

However…

“Just what is going on here.” That moment, something extremely weird happened, something that even Stand users would not be able to underStand unless they encountered something like that before. 

At the same time, multiple things happened. 

First, Josuke was moved back by two metres, causing all his attacks to miss. 

Second, the ice and lightning longer had a target to hit, and dispersed.

Third, a man appeared behind Ryuji and Yusuke. He was wearing a white trench coat, and with a white hat that contrasted his black hair and sharp eyes. 

With the movements of a skilled veteran, he knocked out the two Thieves seemingly with no effort. 

“Jotaro-san!” Josuke was delighted when he saw his friend. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to validate some information on the marine life around here. But it seems, Stand users are attracted to other Stand users.” Jotaro said. He was possibly one of the strongest people in the world currently, and having him on the battlefield changes things completely. 

His Stand, the legendary Star Platinum, had the ability to stop time. 

Futaba saw what had happened, and felt the terror of Jotaro’s overwhelming presence.

She made a decision. 

“Guys, I want all of you guys to come back. We’re retreating.” Futaba spoke to everyone. 

Morgana, Haru and Joker were all in the midst of battle, and did not know what was going on.

“Skull and Inari are down, and Makoto is in bad shape, we can’t continue.” 

Upon hearing that, everyone realised the gravity of the situation. 

“Ready when you are… “ Joker muttered.

Futaba’s ability was special. In the Metaverse, she could hack into the cognitive world to basically control reality to an extent. In this world, it apparently works the same.

“Wait, I need to ask you guys-" Before Jotaro could finish his sentence, Futaba finished her preparations.

“Mirror world.” 

All the Thieves vanished.

Jotaro sighed. His instinct and judgement from that small battle told him that these Stand users were not malicious, but now that they were gone, he could not confirm it.

There was no point giving chase. Even when he stopped time, he was not able to see them. 

He turned to Josuke, Okuyasu and Koichi. 

“I’m sorry guys, but I’ll need a report on this. Their abilities, motives, etc.” 

All three nodded. They had done battle before, and understood the danger of Stands. 

An organised group of Stand users could easily take over the world. At times like these, information about the Stand abilities are paramount to protecting the peace.

“Let us move to the Grand Morioh Hotel. I have a room there, and security there is good. We can talk in private.” Jotaro led the way. No matter what plans they had before this, this matter was urgent, and took precedence. The Stand users can strike at any time. 

After the Kira case, Josuke, Okuyasu and Koichi were recruited into a special training programme by the Speedwagon Foundation. Kishibe Rohan, another of the Stand users who participated in that battle, was invited as well, but declined, choosing to focus on his penmanship. 

Basically, they were training to become Jotaros. 

A part of the Speedwagon Foundation (SPF) was dedicated to peacekeeping around the world, especially when Stands were involved. Since Stand users can only be defeated by Stand users, Jotaro has been travelling around the world, tracking down trouble and putting an end to it. 

Koichi recently had his first mission last month too, which he pulled off without a hitch. He was to travel to Italy and track down a Stand user.

“So, eight Stand users total, one displays the ability to control reality, one has three Stands, and two can both heal and perform elemental attacks? This is becoming a headache.” Jotaro’s eyes only got wider as he listened to the trio’s recount. 

“I believe they called themselves the Phantom Thieves. I think their names were; Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Futaba, Haru and… Akira.” Koichi listed.

“Hmm. Is there anything else?” Jotaro asked. “It’s always good to be cautious.”

“Uhh, that's about it.” Okuyasu piped up. 

He came to a decision. 

“Discounting Passione, the last time an organisation of Stand users was formed was in Egypt. I trust you guys know full well the disaster that caused.” Jotaro’s face was stern.

The three of them had heard the legends of how Jotaro, Josuke’s father, and a few others went on that historical journey to defeat Dio. The losses suffered by innocent civilians and the SPF were insanely high.

“I would like to prevent such a situation from happening again. We must strike as soon as possible, at least uncover their identities and motives. I’ve asked the SPF to run diagnostics based on your descriptions, but they can’t find anything.” Jotaro was at a dead end.

“I will invite some friends over. We will search for them and get to the bottom of this. They must still be somewhere in Morioh.” Jotaro’s instinct was never wrong.

Josuke shivered. Jotaro’s ‘friends’ were always scary. 

Jotaro took up the phone. 

“Speedwagon foundation? Can you put me through to Polnareff?” Jotaro asked into the phone.

Koichi’s eyes widened. “You’re going to call… them?”

Josuke and Okuyasu were not involved in Italy, and did not know who Koichi was referring to.

“Oi Koichi, tell me.” Okuyasu pestered him. “Yeah we wanna know, we wanna know.”

Koichi swallowed.

“Uhm, he’s calling the son of Dio over.”


	2. A river in a dry land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Second Chapter. Read the first chapter before reading the second chapter.

Koichi recounted his story.

After deeming Girono not a threat and returning from Italy, Jotaro had a hunch and continued to investigate. Incredibly, he found out that in slightly over a week, Giorno Giovanna had taken over one of the most notorious groups of Stand users, the Italian mafioso Passione. 

That boy, Giorno Giovanna, was the son of Dio.

When Jotaro went in person to visit, however, he managed to form amicable relationships with Giorno Giovanna, thanks to the discovery of an old friend allied with Passione, Jean Pierre Polnareff. 

Jean Pierre Polnareff was one of the crusaders who accompanied Jotaro on their journey to Egypt, and thus shared an unbreakable bond between them.

Thanks to that, an alliance formed between Passione and the Speedwagon Foundation. Occasionally, they perform joint operations to bring down powerful rogue Stand users, or track down Stand arrows. 

That sheer force of nature would be coming over to Morioh. Josuke shuddered. He hoped he would get on their good side.

Jotaro ended his call.

“Now, I have a few other contacts, but they’re all in prison, so I doubt I can get them here.” Jotaro muttered.”

“Jotaro-san, who’s coming over?”

“My grandfather will be arriving tomorrow morning. Polnareff will be staying in Italy to run Passione since his abilities are gone. In return, they are sending their three strongest Stand users.” Jotaro said. “They will arrive sometime tomorrow.”

The three strongest Stand users could only refer to the three who survived the revolutionary takeover of Passione; Guido Mista, Trish Una, and Giorno Giovanna himself. 

Things were beginning to get serious. Josuke hoped this would end soon, and groaned inwardly as he thought about the battle that was to come.

Their job this time: Subdue the Phantom Thieves.

-

Futaba was sweating. Mirror World made everyone completely untraceable, but took a lot of effort to maintain. As soon as she casted it, Joker ran in to grab Ryuji. Ann and Makoto, now recovered, grabbed Yusuke. They swiftly made their escape. 

“Damn, what was that?” Futaba released Mirror World when they were a few streets away from the battle scene. They ran into a back alley and panted. 

“Those Personas are seriously strong, but they seem like one trick ponies.” Makoto noted.

“Except that last guy at the end, that man is dangerous.” Ann had sensed Jotaro’s power, and shuddered. “His eyes are those of a Palace boss.”

“Ahh, I must be getting old. I can’t move like I used to before.” Haru complained. It was a good few years of inactivity for the Thieves. It’s to be expected that they were not at their top form.

Akira was shaken. He stood up and said, “No matter, let’s focus on survival first. We should find shelter for the night, before going out tomorrow to gather information.” 

Everyone was in agreement. Ryuji and Yusuke were now recovered, at the cost of some SP, but were filled with rage and a desire for revenge. Morgana turned back to cat form to avoid suspicion.

Together, the party moved out.

And encountered the second sign of life in this empty town. 

“Uh, excuse me mister, do you happen to know where the local hotel is?” After Ryuji brought a whole battle to them, Ann was the one who asked this time. They figured having the most charismatic person ask was a good idea.

The person being questioned was wearing a green bandanna. He had green hair and was carrying around a book bag of sorts.

“Ah, it's rare to see visitors in this place. There is only one hotel here, I can lead you guys to it.” The man responded. He seemed amicable, and willing to help. The Thieves decided to trust him and follow him. After all, they could hold their own in any fight.

As they asked him about the place, they found out exactly where they were. 

“This is the town of Morioh, in S city, M prefecture, Japan. We are a small town, so we rarely get tourists like yourselves. Personally, I like the peace and quiet here, but having some guests around these parts can’t be so bad either.” The man strode forth. As he walked, he started speaking like a tour guide. 

“This is the Angelo Rock. Hello Angelo!” The man waved to a rock as they walked by a creepy looking rock. It looked like someone carved a face out of it, or at least tried to.

“Ah, we’re here. The Grand Morioh Hotel.” The man stopped abruptly, and pointed.

Damn. The Thieves gasped. Before them was the most expensive looking hotel they had ever seen. Even in their original world, they doubt they could afford a night.

“Uh… is this the only place..?” Haru questioned. 

“Yep. It's around One Hundred Thousand Yen per night.” The man smiled.

It was a ripoff. No way they were going in there. 

Just as the Thieves were about to give up, the man spoke again.

“But if it’s too expensive for you guys… I have an alternative offer. I own a relatively spacious house that can fit all eight of you comfortably, including the cat. However, I require two things from you guys.” The man said.

He pointed at Yusuke. “First, I would like your assistance. I may not look it, but I am a mangaka with a deadline coming up soon. I can tell from the form of your hands that you are very versed in the art field, and having an inking assistant would be useful.”

“Second, I would like a good story. I am somewhat of a collector, and if it's good enough I can use it in my manga. So if you have any good stories, I’m all ears.” The man continued.

He paused.

“Oh right, sorry, in my rush I forgot to introduce myself. How rude of me.”

“My name is Kishibe Rohan.”

Kishibe Rohan had gone out shopping for ink supplies. It was true that he had a deadline coming up, but always works alone, and usually never fails to deliver on time.

The real reason he was interested in them was because of his Stand, Heaven’s Door.

Back when they first met, he used Heaven’s Door on Ann just in case, and what he read was astounding. However, in order for the rest to not notice, he quickly put his Stand away. 

Kishibe Rohan had read a part of the Thieves’ story, and could not resist wanting to know more. If they did not tell him, it was fine. He would just turn them all into books while they were asleep and read them then.

The Thieves fell into discussion. In the end, Ann approached Rohan.

“We accept the offer. Thank you very much.”

And so, the Thieves acquired their lodgings, Rohan’s true intentions unbeknownst to them.

-

Akira did think of the potential dangers of staying at this stranger’s house. As such, the group consensus was to have at least one person awake in each room, and they would take shifts to make sure nothing weird was going on.

However, there was no need for that.

Once Yusuke entered his studio, he was enthralled. Similarly, Rohan took to him the moment he saw his skills. They cranked out page after page, with Rohan’s inhuman speed and Yusuke keeping up by secretly using his Persona as an extra pair of hands.

“Your style is bold, and you swing wildly with ink that somehow lands precisely where you want it to. It seems I still have much to learn.” The award winning artist was humbled. 

It was currently 3 a.m., and both Yusuke and Rohan showed no signs of stopping. Essentially, Yusuke would be keeping watch on Rohan all night.

Amazed, all of them decided to call it a night. Not long after, they drifted off to sleep

-

“We did it…” Yusuke greeted the thieves when they woke up and headed down to the living room.

As he had not slept at all, there were circles under his eyes.

“We finished one whole volume beyond what was required for the deadline.” Rohan walked out with eyebags as well. He was carrying a tray of food.

“A thank you for your hard work.” Rohan served breakfast for the Thieves as a sign of hospitality and gratitude.

Unfortunately, he could not read the Thieves’ story that night. Needless to say, they did not reveal who they truly were either. 

‘Its alright.’ Rohan thought, ‘I’ll do it tonight.’

“So what are you guys going to do today?” Rohan asked.

“Oh, all of us except Futaba and Yusuke will be going out to explore.” Akira answered, “Futaba does not feel too well, and I believe you and Yusuke have something to do.”

Yusuke and Rohan had agreed to work together and develop work habits today. In other words, they were sharing notes between artists. 

The two now seemed to be rather amicable, and joked around during breakfast. 

The Thieves’ plan for today was to gather information. Or rather, they wanted to find out three things. Why were they sent here and who did it? How do they get back? And what was the deal with those four figures who attacked them?

Yusuke was to indulge Rohan, who seemed to know more than he was letting on, in conversation, and pick up on a few clues here and there.

Futaba would stay in the house and try to find things out over the Internet. With her Persona, she could intercept all radio waves coming in and out of the area. All of their phones were not working in this area, so she had to use Rohan’s computer.

The rest would split into groups of two, and explore the town, searching for clues about how to escape. If they encountered the four who attacked them, they decided to tail them to learn more.

Akira walked around with Morgana, Ryuji was with Ann, and Makoto with Haru. 

They visited several features of the town, pointed out by Rohan. There was a metal tower where a man apparently lived, Trattoria Trussardi, the best restaurant in town, and a large sinister traditional house with the family name “Kira” on it, which unsettled Morgana a bit.

However, this town was mostly boring. It was extremely boring. It had next to nothing.

Eventually, the Akira-Morgana pair arrived at the Grand Morioh Hotel. They decided to explore the grand interior inside.

Just in time, they arrived as a black limousine pulled up to the front of the hotel. 

“Wow, I wonder what kind of rich people are inside.” Morgana muttered.

A young blonde boy emerged from the car. Behind him, a man with a cap and a girl with pink hair followed. The receptionist had been expecting them, and greeted them as they arrived. 

What a bizarre scene. Never had Morgana thought a sixteen year old would be in that car.

However, his eyes widened further as he saw who else greeted them.

All four assailants from yesterday were present, and they greeted each other like old friends.

“Guys, this is Akira.” Akira spoke into the messaging system Futaba made. It was basically an extension of her Persona. “I found the four. And they’ve brought company.” 

After a while, it was decided that everyone who was already outside would gather there. Futaba had a lead on one of their communications, and was making sense of the situation. She was also to hack into the hotel system and figure things out. Yusuke could not shake Rohan, who insisted on him staying.

While they were travelling, Morgana, as a small cat, snuck into the hotel and started tailing them. Akira would secure the perimeter, and ensure there were no surprises waiting for them.

Morgana slipped from Akira’s arms. 

“I’ll be off. Good luck.” Morgana whispered.

Akira nodded back.

The seven went into a conference room in the hotel. An elderly man was already waiting inside.

Morgana hid under a desk, waited until the staff was gone, and sneaked him underneath the door. A cat with a small frame was able to fit in almost anywhere, and Morgana managed to sneak under their chairs and into the table frame.

“Now, let us tell you more about the Stand users in detail.” Jotaro’s voice boomed. 

He explained the situation, and the young boy with the golden hair served as a translator for his two friends. They were Italians apparently.

As they talked, Morgana realised something.

This world has no concept of Personas. Instead, the Persona users call their Personas Stands. Furthermore, in addition to the three already known abilities, the Italians have someone, likely the young boy, who was even stronger than Jotaro. 

This was dangerous, Morgana realised.

He reported his knowledge across to the rest. Just as everyone arrived at the hotel, Futaba, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up. 

“Okay, I’ve breached the hotel system. I can now control everything in there. So if you guys commence an attack, I'll give backup.”

“Anyway,” Futaba continued, “I traced the signals from various calls yesterday to two organisations. The Speedwagon Foundation, and Passione, are the two powerhouses when it comes to Stand users. So I broke in and extracted all their data.”

“The trio from yesterday- 

Josuke can fix things, and has notable destructive power. He serves as the primary healer.

Okuyasu’s The Hand scrapes things away, and once it’s gone it does not come back. I don’t know why the blades on Joker’s Yoshitsune came back, but all physical things will be gone. In addition, he can ‘teleport’ by scraping the air in front of him.

Koichi can control gravity, but only make things heavier. He can’t do the opposite.” 

“Now here it gets interesting.” Futaba spoke with a tremble. “Jotaro… he can stop time for five seconds.” 

The Thieves gasped. Such a power was extremely tricky to deal with.

Futaba continued. “The SPF has data on the Mafia as well. Trish Una, the girl, can make things rubbery with her Spice Girl. Guido Mista, with Sex Pistols, can control bullets. Gun type attacks won’t work on him.”

“However, I can’t find anything on the young boy. I assume he is the most dangerous one here, even more so than Jotaro. I did not search for the eldelry man, but I’ll try to now.”

The Thieves quickly formed a plan. Since they still did not know Giorno’s ability, they decided to aim for just one. Working under the assumption that the Stand users had some involvement in bringing them to this world, they decided to capture one, just one of them, and bargain for information. 

The Thieves were not murderers. They did not condone killing, and would never take a life, only a heart.

Everyone was in place. Ann, Ryuji, Makoto and Haru had arrived outside. They were waiting to rush in in case things went wrong. 

Joker was approaching the door. When he did, 

“Now.” Futaba shut off the hotel power, causing a blackout. In the midst of the confusion, Joker used Sandman, and casted Dormina. His target was Koichi, and he successfully put him to sleep. Fortunately, cats could see in the dark, and Morgana sent out Mercurius to swiftly pick Koichi up. 

“Let’s go.” Joker and Morgana, the original duo, had great chemistry, and bounced skillfully down the hotel corridors. The lights came back on, and they were able to jump onto the chandelier and shinny down.

However. 

“Star Platinum; The World.”

Jotaro appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

Behind, the other six stood menacingly. 

“I’m surrounded. Please come in.” Joker said.

And four figures jumped from each side.

Psycho Blast, Wild Thunder, Blazing Hell, and Cosmic Flare were all casted. 

The attacks hit, but most of the damage was reflected mysteriously, as if the attacks themselves disappeared. 

It still caused enough rubble to fall from the ceiling, and the Thieves used that commotion to make their escape. 

“I’ll shake them.” Joker looked back to see most of them chasing after them, and Okuyasu preparing to teleport.

He aimed at the place Okuyasu would be teleporting them to.

“Megidoloan.” Joker called out Satanael, and hit them with one of his strongest attacks. 

Similarly, the attack was nullified by a mysterious power, but he managed to bring down Josuke and Trish. Basically, the people in front of the young boy. 

So it was his ability to nullify things?

Joker called out Alice, one of his personal favourites. 

“Stall them, Alice.” Joker ordered.

Alice smiled a ghostly smile.

“Die for me!” Alice flew over and the group focused their attacks on her. However, even unique skills like Die for me were nullified. 

He tried to gain distance, but his plan failed. 

“Sex Pistols!”

Bullets flew from Mista, taking impossible trajectories. Even if they dodged, it flew back to hit them. Joker had Abbadon, which could absorb all gun attacks, but Morgana was not as lucky. One bullet hit Morgana in the leg.

Slowly but surely, the Stand users caught up with the Thieves. 

This would not end well. A fight was definitely imminent.

However.

“Stop this.” A voice rang out. 

“I have come to put an end to this mess.” Kishibe Rohan stated.

-

Giorno was in a good mood. He woke up to a soft warm morning glow, his morning tea was perfectly brewed, and the drug cartels were finally closing down. Furthermore, he scheduled lunch with Polnareff today, and talking to Polnareff was always a pleasure. 

The smile on his face would be quickly wiped away, however.

His personal cell phone rang. Only a select few have access to the personal number of one of the most powerful people in the world. He wondered who it was.

Giorno hoped it was just Mista messing around as usual. However, his gut told him otherwise. 

“Buon giorno.” Giorno greeted. 

“Ho bisogno del tuo aiuto.” A husky voice replied on the other end. Giorno recognized that voice. It was none other than the legendary crusader himself, Kujo Jotaro.

Giorno went pale as Jotaro explained the situation. An organised group of Stand users looking for trouble was never a good sign. He recalled the past times his life was nearly ended, as well as the many friends he lost to Stands. 

“I… I’ll be right over…” Giorno replied. 

This was serious. Giorno, with his sheer power, felt responsible to handle the situation as well. He immediately cancelled all his appointments for the day, and contacted Polnareff, Trish, and Mista. 

He asked Polnareff to watch over Passione, and booked an immediate flight for three.

This was going to be interesting. 

The three of them had not done much together after Diavolo was defeated. This was mainly due to all of them being extremely busy managing the gang. Trish was in charge of the business fronts, and always had some admin work to attend to. Mista was in charge of all the fighting, taking charge of the safety around the areas and forming a new “assassination team”, one that’s specialized in fighting Stands. 

And Giorno and Polnareff, needless to say, always had their hands full managing Passione. 

He was quietly excited to take a break from work, and took this chance to talk to his friends. 

And he noticed something weird.

Trish and Mista were acting off lately. No, they had been weird around each other since the Diavolo fight, when they switched bodies. 

They may not know it yet, but Giorno, with his keen perceptions, could easily tell. 

They both had feelings for each other.

He laughed silently on the plane as the two badasses interacted like blundering fools beside him.

-

Upon landing in the nearest airport, they immediately adjourned to the Grand Morioh Hotel. There, Jotaro and his crew were waiting. 

Giorno recognized Koichi, from way back. The others were probably Josuke and Okuyasu, exceptional trainees in the Speedwagon Foundation. Together, they went up to an elegant conference room. 

Josuke greeted him nervously. He was probably scared of Giorno’s feats, despite being the same age. Well, Diavolo really wasn’t special compared to Kira Yoshikage. Giorno knew about the Morioh battles and how bravely Josuke acted. He was quite impressed with their results and minimal sacrifices. 

Giorno felt someone watching his back, but brushed it off. He had an important meeting to attend. Giorno was fluent in English, Italian, and Japanese, thanks to his mother. Thus, as Jotaro gave the situation breakdown, he took it upon himself to translate for Trish and Mista. 

Their plan was to use Hermit Purple to find the “Stand” users, and neutralise them if they were a threat. Information was still their top priority though. 

Hermit purple was the stand of Joseph Joestar, the grandfather of Jotaro. The elderly man sitting in the back did not look like much, but Giorno had heard of his legendary exploits, and had nothing but respect for the man. The legend of the past was responsible for saving the world twice, from Aztec Gods and a sly Vampire. 

As they continued their discussion, Joseph Joestar only dozed off more and more. Indeed, such a man was out of place in a room full of energetic and powerful people. 

However, Joseph suddenly jolted awake. 

“No! We must act now! They are already here!” He shouted.

Giorno instinctively trusted the old man. Without bothering to translate, he sent out GER and covered Joseph. 

Joseph was in the most danger, being the physical weakest yet posing the most threat with his Hermit Purple. Any enemy would go for him first.

Just then, the lights shut off. A flash of light came from under the table, morphed into a a stand, and vanished.

Giorno saw. The stand was in the shape of a slim human with wings on his feet. 

However, he did not use GER. 

Giorno’s ability was special. By killing someone, he denied them even death itself, as he returned death itself to zero, resulting in an infinite loop of death. He did not want such a fate to befall anyone, unless he was certain of their malicious nature.

Jotaro spoke into his device, causing the lights to come back on. Out of the corner of his eye, Josuke spotted the Thieves running away.

“They got Koichi!” Josuke alerted the rest.

Giorno looked towards Jotaro. He knew exactly what was coming next.

“Star Platinum; The World.”

Jotaro appeared in front of the Thieves, blocking their path.

Without wasting a moment, the rest blocked off their escape. 

The assailants were just one man carrying Koichi, and a cat beside him. Giorno wondered if the cat was also a Stand user. Animal stand users were rare, but not impossible. Polnareff was currently alive due to an animal stand, after all.

The man whispered something into his wrist.

All of a sudden, attacks came in from above. Fire, lighting, and a mysterious pink and blue light. 

Giorno knew what he needed to do.

“Gold Experience Requiem. You will never reach the truth.” 

Gold Experience Requiem flew up. He punched the attacks, and nullfied them all completely. [ Return to Zero ] was absolute. Nothing can overcome it. It lorded over even the time-controlling Stands said to be the pinnacle of Stand users. 

The Thieves were making their escape. Giorno motioned for the others to give chase. 

They continued their pursuit. It was unknown why the Thieves went for Koichi. If Giorno had to guess, they probably wanted to extract information out of him or use him as a bargaining chip. It could also be because he was simply easier to carry. However, Koichi would not go down easily. 

In this case, not knowing about Joseph Joestar worked to their advantage. If they went for him, Giorno would have been much angrier. 

Lost in thought, Giorno did not react to Joker’s attack in time. Megidoloan managed to hit Trish and Josuke before Giorno’s reflexes kicked in.

This would not do. Giorno had to be more careful. He gritted his teeth.

Joker threw a few more attacks. This time, his Stand took a different form. A young girl with a demonic presence threw Almighty attacks at them.

‘So he really has multiple Stands’, Giorno thought as he successfully nullified all the incoming attacks. The enemy pressured him well, and prevented him from healing his friends.

Mista had the longest range, and started firing at them. He was probably a bit pissed for what they did to Trish. 

Most bullets were deflected by yet another Stand from the guy, but one managed to hit its mark. It nabbed the cat by the leg, causing them to stop. 

Giorno and company caught up soon. Joker turned around, ready to battle. 

Giorno knew this would not end nicely. He braced himself.

However… 

“Stop this.” A voice rang out.

Giorno turned to look. And thus stood Kishibe Rohan. 

“I have come to put an end to this mess.” Kishibe Rohan stated.

Rohan stood on top of a residential wall. He jumped down and landed in a graceful pose.

Inside, Giorno sighed a breath of relief. Not using his power was a huge relief for him. He had heard of Rohan, and worked with him a few times. His ability made it easy to learn new languages quickly, which was useful. When Koichi first visited Giorno, he was apparently able to speak in italian due to Rohan writing it in Koichi. He thus trusted Rohan quite a bit. 

However, in this situation, he still had his doubts.

“Rohan, what are you saying? Explain.” Giorno was worried about possible mind control related effects. Especially when he noticed the guy standing behind Rohan. Based on the descriptions of the Thieves, the guy was definitely one of them. 

“I was curious so I turned Yusuke into a book and read him while he was taking a nap. And so I’ve learnt of the events that transpired the past few days, and their past.” Rohan stated.

Joker had finished tending to the cat and looked up. The rest of the Thieves present had caught up as well. When they heard Rohan’s words, they all stopped and looked at him.

‘Did they know Rohan?’ Giorno thought.

“They do not mean any harm. Both sides should not be fighting. This has all been a misunderstanding.” Rohan continued. 

“Josuke, you have to control your temper, okay…” Rohan chided Josuke.

He started explaining, about how the Phantom Thieves came from an identical world, but with a different concept of Stand powers. They were innocent and simply misunderstood, much like in their original world. They were looking to get back when they encountered Josuke’s temper.

The Thieves were still on guard, but the guy who was with Rohan, Kitagawa Yusuke, started explaining things to the Thieves. They became slightly less agitated, and started keeping their Stands. They were further calmed by the arrival of Futaba, who explained what she learnt about the Speedwagon Foundation’s past records and communications. They meant no harm, they were just responding to a threat. 

Futaba ran slowly, and had trailed a ways behind Rohan and Yusuke.

The three came to stop the fighting before anyone made matters worse. As a show of trust, Yusuke cracked open two revival beads and healed Trish and Josuke. He also used an item to wake Koichi up. Koichi looked around, stunned. 

Upon seeing the two visibly back to normal, the gang calmed down a bit. 

What was this about? Numerous questions went through everyone’s heads. 

Giorno’s main query was something everyone was thinking of.

“Who sent them here, then?” He asked.

Rohan shook his head. None of them knew. Nothing could sneak past his mind reading ability, so it was really the truth.

“Yare yare…” Kujo Jotaro, the man in charge, stepped up. “Well, at least we didn’t have to fight.”

He turned towards the Phantom Thieves. “It’s about lunchtime. How about we go to a nearby restaurant and talk over lunch. I will have Josuke here apologize for the misunderstandings caused, and we will do everything in our power to answer any questions you have.” He proposed.

Now that they knew about the Thieves background, it was only fair that they introduced themselves and the workings of their world. Rohan probably only had time to do a brief breakdown and focused on getting Yusuke’s trust.

And so Trattoria Trussardi had a huge lunch crowd that day. 

“Welcome! Welcome!” Tonio beamed. He was always happy to see customers, due to his unorthodox cooking methods.

Most customers would either be scared off or enthralled. 

“My, are you guys Italian?” Tonio exclaimed upon seeing Giorno, Trish and Mista.

Giorno smiled. They exchanged pleasantries, and they learnt about Tonio’s background and his dream to make people happy with his cooking. He had travelled around the world, spreading Italian cuisine.

Authentic Italian food in Japan nearly seemed like a pipe dream. However, Tonio did not disappoint. In addition to the exquisite food, all the first time guests there had a similar shocking experience. Water that rejuvenated their eyes, tomatoes that cured their teeth, Tonio’s medicinal cooking was indeed one of a kind.

“Now, let us tell you more about this world.” Jotaro spoke.

He told them everything, about the origins of the Stand Arrow, the different types of Stands, a summary of key historical events about Stands, and the journeys each of them went through in the past. Joseph, who was sleeping most of the time (he was carried here by Jotaro), occasionally woke up to butt in and tell his own story.

In return, the Thieves returned their show of trust with their own tale, about the cognitive world, and how they suddenly were brought back. They also concluded that this was the same country of Japan, but likely in a parallel world. After all, in their original country, there was no one who did not know the name “Phantom Thieves”.

Akira did leave out the Velvet Room when he was questioned for having multiple “Stands”, as he himself really did not understand. The best answer he could give was that he was ‘chosen’. 

Josuke also gritted his teeth and apologized, and Morgana likewise did the same for treating Koichi roughly. 

“A talking cat…?” Now that things were calmer, the realisation set in. Giorno had never heard of talking animals, even if the animal was a Stand user. 

“You get used to it.” Ann laughed. 

“By the way, someone recently hacked into the Speedwagon Foundation’s archives. By any chance… is it related to you guys?” Jotaro asked. 

At the same time, all the Thieves looked at Futaba. Futaba blushed and smiled sheepishly.

“Uh, maybe it was me?” She muttered. 

However, before she could apologize, Jotaro interrupted.

“Amazing. We have state of the art defenses, several years ahead of military grade encoding, and you just broke right through without leaving a trace.” Jotaro was impressed. “If you don’t mind, we would really love it if you could take a look as to improve on our system.” 

“Wait, state of the art?” Futaba was visibly confused. “Your security is decades old.”

“Right. I’ve been meaning to ask. What year is this?” Makoto said.

“2001” Giorno replied. 

“Wait, no way, that’s like twenty years ago.” Ryuji was shocked. 

Akira had considered the fact that they had been merely sent back in time. However, the probability was low. The structure of Personas here and the differences in the two world’s recorded history were too great. 

“Well, do you guys have any clue as to how you got here? Maybe that could help.” Koichi piped up. 

The Thieves had been through this discussion. Haru, who had the clearest memory, recounted the event.

“We were all together, and suddenly everything went dark. It felt like something heavy was pressing on me. Also, there seemed to be a persona in the distance. I couldn’t see it clearly, however.” She recounted.

Everyone was puzzled. No one from either world knew of any phenomenon of the like. 

During lunch, they also discussed what to do next.

It was decided that the Thieves would temporarily help out at the Speedwagon Foundation, and all their necessities would be taken care of. Having a powerful fighting force was sure to help in any Stand battles.

The Thieves were still young, but rusty, and could not fight in top form. However, none of them particularly dreaded fighting, so they agreed. Some people (Makoto), were quite happy with the arrangement. 

For now, they would reside at the Grand Morioh Hotel. The next morning, they would take the first flight to the SPF headquarters in America. Giorno and company would also stay the night, but had to return to Italy immediately. Leaving a gang alone without it’s boss was not a good idea. 

Jotaro prepared himself. The next few days of work was going to be a pain. 

-

“Hmph. They seem to have stopped fighting.” 

“Well, I was planning to do this anyway. Let’s start crumbling the resistance.”

A lone figure sat at the head of a table. He muttered ominously to himself. The man stood, revealing a stature of dignity. 

He looked down. On the well decorated table lay two sets of cutlery. He grabbed the one on the right. 

The President of the United States smiled.

“I wonder how this will turn out.”


End file.
